Oil-still



J. PRIMROSE.

OIL STILL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1920.

1,389,978. PatentedSept. 6,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. PRIMROSE.

OIL STILL. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN rmnmosn, oF'NEw YORK, N. Y.

OIL-STILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

Application filed June 5, 1920. Serial No. 386,733.

To all whom it may concern Be it known'that I, JOHN PRIMROSE, a citizenof'the United States of America, residing at New York, in the county andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOil-Stills, of which the following is} full, clear, and exactdescription.

In certain forms of oil stills by the use and operation of which what isknown as fractional distillation is practised provision is made forsubjecting the oil in successive banks of tubes or heating surface to agradually increasing temperature and for taking off the vapor formed ineach bank and passing the unvaporized oil on to the next bank.

I'm such stills, in order that the circulation of the oil may beeffected by a single pump, it is important to control the pressurebetween each bank of heating surface but this is a problem by no meanseasy of practical solution.

I have, however, devised a means for accomplishing this which meets allpractical requirements and this means is made the subject of my presentapplication for Letters Patent. According to thismy invention I installa pressure control chamber between each bank of heating surface andprovide in such chamber a float valveof special construction whichcontrols the gas outlet of the chamber, closing it when the oil in thechamber backs upby reason of any obstruction in the next succeeding bankof heating surface and rises to or beyond a predetera mined level. Bythis means the pressure in the closed control chamber rises until it issuiiicient to overcome and remove the obstruction, whereupon the levelof the oil falls, the gas outlet is, again opened and the gas released.

The apparatus which I have designed for this purpose is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a still embodying myimprovements taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and x Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section and par elevation of the complete still.

The special character and construction of the still are not of theessence ofthis invention and may be greatly and widely varied providedit exhibit the essential characteristlcs hereinafter set forth. Thatshown comprises a furnace or fire box 1 in the top wall 2 of whichcomposed of heatresisting material a single zig-zag line 4 of pipesconveys the cold oil from the source 3 to the banks of tubes or heatingsurfaces placed above the said to partition 2 and exposed to the current0 hot gases from the fire box.

Primarily the oil receiving its initial heat in the pipes 4 iscarried-to the first bank of heating surface 5 and after passing throughthis in series it passes successively to and through the succeedingbanks 6, 7 and 8. The flow of oil iscounter to the flow of the hotgases, the last bank of the series 8 being in position to be swept bythe hottest gases, and in practice the extent of the heat-absorbingsurfaces will be in inverse proportion to the temperature of the gasesimpinging thereon.

In each stage of such a still vapors are driven ofi, and, it isdesirable that they be collected and separately stored by reason oftheir different character. I therefore conduct the oil after passingthrough the series of pipes to a separator from which such vapor as isset free is taken off, while'the oil is then passed on to the first bankof heating surface 5 and then led to a second separator and so onthroughout the whole series.

The. separators and the pressure control chambers are all ofsubstantially the same construction, and only one need be described indetail. I have therefore shown in Fig. 1 the separator 9 connectedbetween the banks 5' and 6 for purpose of illustration.

The oil from the first separator 10 is" led by a pipe 11 to the bottomof the bank 5 and from the top of the same bank b a pipe 12 to the topof the separator 9. he construction of this latter device is lar elyimmaterial to thepresent invention. he hot oil' is delivered onto aspreader 13 and falls into a conical receiver 14 from which it gassesonto another spreader, and so on.

eneath the conical receivers are gas chambers from which lead gasoutlets 15 which connect with a gas pipe 16, the upper end of whichconnects with the upper space of the separator. By this device thevapors disthe next bank 6, and theoil which finds its back up in thechamber 17 and its level Will rise, not only in the separator but in thechamber 17, and this rise of level ls' taken advantage of to shut offthe gas outlet.

For this purpose a float valve 20 is 'used in chamber 17 which carries aperforated brass tube 22 constituting the gas outlet. As long as thelevel of oil in chamber 17 is below a certain line the gas entering thechamber the outlet and finds its way off through the perforators and thetube 21 into 'the' outlet tube 22, but should this level rise a certainand predetermined amount, the outlet is closed, and the pressuretherefore accumulates in chamber 17 until it becomes suflicient to forceon any impediment to its flow through the next bank. As soon as thepassage is thus cleared the oil level falls, the valve 20 opens theoperation proceeds as before.

It will be observed that such gas as forms in the pipes 4 is taken offby the separator 10,'that which formsin the first bank 5 is taken offfrom the separator '9 and so on,

there being a separator anda pressure control chamber associatedtherewith, for each of the groups of heating surfaces. Pressure from asingle source, therefore, which drives the oil into the still sufiicesto carry the unvolatilized oil completely through the entire still, andthe operation is thereby greatly simplified and improved.

What I claim is I 1. In an oilstill comprising a plurality ofheatingsurfaces in which the oil is subj ected to varying effects of thefurnace temperature, the combination of liquid and vapor separators withand intermediate to. adjacent heating surfaces, and a, control deviceconnected with the vapor outlet of each perature, the combination ofliquid and vapor separators with and intermediate each two adjacentheating surfaces, a chamber connected with each separator for receiving.the vapor therefrom and a controllingvalve for closing the outlets fromsaid chambers adapted to be operated by'a stoppage of the flow of oilthrough the next succeeding heat- I ing surface and a predetermined riseof the level thereof. v 4 3. In an oil still comprising a'plurality ofbanks of heating surfaces for oil placed in different relations to theflow of hot gases from the furnace, the combination of liquid and vaporseparators with and intermediate each two adjacent banks, chambersconnected with said separators for receivin the gas therefrom, outletsfor said cham ers, connections between the chambers and the separatorsand a fioat valve in each chamber which closes the outlet when by reasonof a stoppage of flow the oil in said chamber rises to a predeterminedlevel. In testimony whereof '1 hereto aifix my signature.

JOHN PRIMROSE.

